This invention relates to a flexible retractable assembly useful for a variety of purposes including various types of doors, space dividers, coverings and the like. Typical uses comprise entryway doors, cabinet doors, furniture doors, doors for enclosing bathtubs and showers and for closing closets and the like, various covers, and screens as used, for example, to cover an entrance from a patio to a home interior, window screens, and screen doors and windows for a lanai.
Doors, bug screens, and other coverings of the type referred to are well known for many purposes. The various assemblies described herein are intended as substitutes for such conventional products.
In the context of doors for use in water containment applications such as about bathtubs and showers, known doors suffer a number of disadvantages. Rigid panel glass and/or plastic doors are known specifically adapted as tub and shower doors. Such doors have rigid fixed panels of glass or plastic opened by sliding or by being hinged typically either as a single hinged panel door or as a bi-fold door. Known rigid panel doors suffer the disadvantages that when hinged, they require space for the doors to swing or, when sliding, they do not permit full access to the tub or shower. When not open, the doors have the disadvantage of taking up a considerable amount of space.
Other door-like closures for water containment applications are well known as in the form of flexible slidable shower curtains hung from a bar above the tub/shower opening. While inexpensive, such curtains are frequently ineffective to prevent water leakage and considerable water damage can result especially through careless use as may frequently occur in hotels and the like. Attempts have also been made to use plastic sheets which can be pulled out to cover the shower opening and then rewound or refolded to conserve space when not in use. Such attempts have also not been successful from the standpoints of utility, cost and aesthetics.
In the context of doors for use in non-water containment, uses such as entryway doors, doors to close closets, cabinets and the like, many doors are known which are in effect, retractable. These include, notably, bi-fold doors and accordion doors. Both of these types of doors have the disadvantage that when retracted, they still impair entry to the opening and occupy a considerable amount of space. Typically, these doors are of a relatively substantial construction and, therefore, can be relatively expensive.
Hinged doors and sliding panel doors are also well known as having various disadvantages in that they interfere with otherwise usable space and/or limit the percentage of available access to the closet or other area being enclosed.
Current designs for screen doors, screen windows and room dividers also present problems since solid sliding doors, as well as solid frames for screens, occupy considerable space when not in use. Either they must be removed when not in use, or moved into wall openings for storage which is expensive and space consuming or they must remain visible which is unsightly.
Accordingly, to at least partially overcome the disadvantages of previously known devices, the present invention provides a flexible retractable assembly for use as a door, space divider, bug screen or other covering in a variety of applications. The assembly generally embodies a flexible sheet having a permanent or substantially permanent memory set as a coil to roll up on itself automatically as a spiral coil. The flexible retractable assembly in accordance with the invention provides an improved substitute for known doors in a large variety of applications as explained in the foregoing background section of this application.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible retractable assembly for use in a wide variety of applications such as a door assembly for water-retaining bathtubs, and/or showers, for entryway doors, closet doors, room dividers, cabinet doors, screen doors and windows, and various covers such as a florescent light cover, all such assemblies having a simplified construction which may be easily and efficiently manufactured.
Another object is to provide new and improved assemblies which are of a durable and reliable construction and which may be efficiently and reliably assembled.
Another object is to provide flexible retractable assemblies which are simpler, lighter, easier to install or assemble than wood or glass doors, which are adaptable to non-linear and free form applications, and which provide substantially greater access to the opening to be closed.
In general respects, the present invention provides a flexible retractable assembly comprising:
a flexible sheet having front and rear end edges and laterally extending side edges,
said sheet having a permanent memory set to roll up on itself or otherwise form a compact configuration automatically, for example, as a spiral coil around an axis proximate said rear edge or as an accordion configuration,
locating means retaining said coil or other configuration at one side of an opening,
guide means guiding said sheet from the locating means across the opening,
wherein by the sheet moving from the locating means, the sheet is movable between:
(a) a retracted position with the front end edge near the locating means and the substantial entirety of the sheet in a compact state, and
(b) one or more extended positions with the front end edge spaced from the locating means and a substantial portion of the sheet extending at least partially across the opening.
These general characteristics of the assembly are utilized for each of the various applications of the invention by combining certain additional features to achieve specific functions. Thus, the sheet may be employed as a door for a shower and means are then provided to avoid splashing of water outside the shower area. In the case of a closet door, a tambour arrangement or other stiffening means may be added to improve the aesthetics and/or to provide a more sturdy construction. A screen door or window function may be achieved by utilizing a self-retracting sheet with openings for the passage of air. The accompanying drawings and description thereof set forth these and other such features which all form part of the inventive subject matter.